'World's most expensive vodka' found on Danish building site.A stolen bottle of vodka thought to be the world's most expensive at $1.3m (£960,000) has been found empty on a construction site, Danish police say.
The bottle, made from gold and silver and with a diamond encrusted cap, was on loan to a Copenhagen bar which had a collection of vodkas on display.
CCTV released on Wednesday showed an intruder, who grabbed the Russo-Baltique vodka and fled th...

North Korea accepts Olympics talks offer, says South.North Korea has accepted an offer to attend high-level talks next week, South Korean officials have said.
The meeting, on 9 January, will focus on finding a way for North Korean athletes to attend the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea in February.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said this week that sending a delegation to the Games would be "a good opportunity to show unity" among North Ko...

Deadly Storm Eleanor batters Europe.Three people have died as winter storm Eleanor swept across most of northern Europe, causing widescale disruption.
A skier died in the French Alps and 15 others were injured elsewhere in the country, four of them seriously.
Two people were killed when they were swept away by a huge wave on Spain's northern Basque coast.
The storm, which hit most of northern Europe after battering the UK, ...

Peru Pasamayo: Dozens killed as coach plunges off cliff.At least 36 people have been killed after a coach plummeted 100m (330ft) down a cliff and landed upside down on a beach in Peru, officials say.
The health ministry said six survivors had so far been pulled from the wreckage and taken to hospital.
The accident happened on a notorious stretch of road known as Curva del Diablo (the devil's bend) in Pasamayo, north of the capital Lima.
A tran...

Delicious but deadly mochi: The Japanese rice cakes that kill.Two people have died in Japan and several are in a critical condition after choking on traditional rice cakes as part of the new year celebrations.
They may seem harmless, but each year the hard-to-eat snack claims several lives, prompting annual warnings from officials.
What is a mochi?
The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice.
The rice is first steamed...

Thousands flee fireworks explosion at Australia beach.Two people were injured when a barge carrying a New Year fireworks display caught fire at an Australian beach.
A few minutes into the show at Terrigal Beach in New South Wales, an apparent malfunction caused fireworks to go off at random, some towards the beach.
Thousands of people on the beach had to be moved to safety and police sealed off the area.
Two pyrotechnicians jumped off the bo...

Afghanistan suicide bomb attack: Dozens killed in Kabul.At least 41 people have been killed and more than 80 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A Shia cultural organisation was the target but the Afghan Voice news agency was also hit. So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack.
The interior ministry told the BBC an explosion at the Shia centre was followed by at least two more blasts.
IS has been behind a...

Egypt hangs 15 militants convicted of 2013 Sinai attacks.Egypt has hanged 15 militants who were convicted of carrying out attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula in 2013, authorities say.
The executions were carried out on Tuesday at two prisons in the north of the country, where the men were held.
They were convicted of killing soldiers, carrying out assassinations, and destroying military vehicles.
It was the first mass execution in...

Pope calls for peace for Jerusalem.Pope Francis has used his traditional Christmas Day message to call for "peace for Jerusalem" and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
Acknowledging "growing tensions" between them, he urged a "negotiated solution... that would allow the peaceful co-existence of two states".
US President Donald Trump recently announced that America recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The...

Philippines Tropical Storm Tembin kills more than 100 on Mindanao.More than 100 people are reported to have been killed as a tropical storm swept through the southern Philippines, with dozens more missing.
Storm Tembin brought flash flooding and mudslides to parts of Mindanao island.
Two towns badly hit were Tubod and Piagapo, where a number of homes were buried by boulders.
Tembin, with winds of up to 80km/h (50 mph), has now passed across Mindanao and...